More than 1,000 serving police have criminal convictions ranging from assault to burglary, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The data, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, showed 1,063 officers with criminal records, including 59 for assault, 36 for theft and 96 for dishonesty. Other offences include battery, fraud, perverting the course of justice and forgery.

Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said the figures showed that some officers who committed violent offences while serving or were proved dishonest were being allowed to keep their jobs.

He said police chiefs needed to "get tough on bad apples" in their teams.

"It is staggering that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves. It is even more worrying that so many police officers convicted of serious crimes involving dishonesty or violence have been allowed to keep their jobs. The public entrust the police with the use of legal force precisely because they are self-disciplined and restrained, which is why anyone convicted of a violent offence should be dismissed. I cannot see how a police officer convicted of dishonesty can perform their duty effectively.

"The trust that is absolutely vital in policing is seriously undermined when police officers are being convicted of crimes of dishonesty. Allowing police officers convicted of offences of violence or dishonesty to continue serving merely brings the vast majority of law-abiding and diligent officers into disrepute."

Although there were vetting procedures for dealing with new applicants, there was no Home Office guidance for dealing with officers committing offences while serving, Huhne said.

"There is a disturbing lack of consistency in how police forces deal with officers who are convicted of crimes. The Home Office recognises this decisive problem for applicants but not for serving officers."

According to the data, obtained from 41 of 52 forces, a further 210 officers have resigned or been dismissed from their jobs since 2004 because of their convictions. Only 37 have been dismissed for dishonesty.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said officers convicted of crimes would not automatically lose their jobs.

Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and head of workforce development for Acpo, said: "The police service expects good conduct and probity from its officers and staff at all times. Where wrongdoing is alleged, police officers are investigated and action taken as appropriate to each case.

"It should be remembered that there are just over 140,000 police officers in the country. It is very rare that a person with a criminal conviction will be recruited into the police service.

"Where an officer has committed misconduct, which can include a criminal offence, a range of disciplinary actions can be taken. Each case is judged on its merit. The force concerned will then take action depending on a range of factors including the severity of the offence and its impact on an officer's ability to carry out their duties."

According to the figures, the forces with the highest number of police with convictions are the Metropolitan police with 274, West Midlands with 121 and Strathclyde, 107. Merseyside has 82, while Manchester and Kent have 44. Grampian has 34 and South Wales 31.

The forces with the highest percentage of officers with criminal convictions are Merseyside and West Midlands, followed by the Met and South Wales police.

About this article

More than 1,000 police have criminal records

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 11.46 EDT on Wednesday 11 March 2009.
It was last modified at 13.08 EDT on Wednesday 11 March 2009.
It was first published at 05.02 EDT on Wednesday 11 March 2009.